BRATTLEBORO — Employers should not be able to require employees or would-be employees to turn over their social media passwords as a condition of employment, Rep. Peter Welch said Thursday.

Welch told reporters at a press conference Thursday that he would be re-introducing legislation next week that would ban the practice.

It’s not clear exactly how great the password problem is. Welch said his office hadn’t received a single complaint about passwords concerning a Vermont employer. But he said many people are very concerned about the issue, viewing it as a major attack on privacy.

“People have a real concern about maintaining privacy,” he said. Welch said that people should be able to set their own privacy settings on such social media sites such as Facebook and expect privacy.